Oh boy...

So it finally happened. A recruiter contacted me about a job with the “other guys” in town. I’m a little unclear if it’s more of an engineer/drafter position or creative design position, but either way it’s very tempting as the job is A) in the same city, B) Would double my salary. But of course, there’s a catch.

Being young, dumb and desperate as I was, my current company had me sign a non-compete, which, of course, I complied with. From what I have read, it seems as though these things are only 50% enforceable or thereabouts, but the risk of having to drag this situation into court feels rather daunting. Has anyone ever had to deal with one of these? I understand how an employer could be negatively impacted by certain employees leaving to work with a competitor, but reading over my contract four years later I can hardly believe I - or anyone for that matter - would sign such a thing!

So I let the recruiter know about my situation, which he has passed onto “Company B”. A) Hiring manager of “CB” wants to read over my n-c, which I have not yet sent. B) “HM” wants to know what I am currently making! Now, they have already tossed a number out there, which, as previously stated, could basically double what I’m making now, so I’m not about to fold to that BS. Fool me once and all that.

So I was thinking about just going with something like “The salary described in the job posting is very competitive and I don’t feel like my current pay grade would be a good barometer for the value I can provide your company.” or some such deflection. I just now made that up off the top of my head, so I’m open to suggestions/tweaks.

Interestingly, or maybe not, when I told the recruiter about the n-c he seemed a little flustered and said he doesn’t run across these a lot in this industry (and he’s a recruiter who concentrates on this industry in particular). He may have just been blowing smoke, don’t really know, but that’s what he said.

So I guess my main questions at this juncture are A) is it kosher to send my n-c to a recruiter/hiring manager? B) if they look it over and decide they are willing to take on the risk of this all going to court (which I don’t think they will, but obviously I would make sure they’re willing to cover any associated court costs & legal fees) is it worth plunging in and dealing with it? How hairy could it get? I guess they’d probably sift through all my emails and hard drives?

According to sources at work, my employer has taken (or attempted to take) someone to court who left my company for the company who is represented by this recruiter. “Company B” supposedly decided it wasn’t worth it and let him go, and he had to find another gig. I can’t remember now if it was a designer/engineer or not.

I guess that’s enough for now. What are your thoughts, c77 friends?

My best suggestion is ask a lawyer, or to post on some legal forums as well. My thoughts don’t amount to anything you should use! :slight_smile:

I would second this. The last thing you want is to be caught up in a legal issue just because you happened to break the rules and the company needs to follow up out of policy and principle.
In the end you might end up with no job.

I would also keep in mind that you are far from anonymous on here… :wink:

True. If nothing else, I know how much I could make in this area. Nice winkie.

Yeah, I’m definitely talking to a couple lawyers, just thought I’d see what some industry insiders thought as well.

Here’s a way around the noncompete, do everything you can to get fired from your current job, flip your boss’s desk if you have to. :smiley:

if you go with that advice, don’t forget to record it and post it on youtube.

LoL wouldn’t that be great, except I’m pretty sure the wording says no matter how I leave the company. Or maybe you were joking. Still funny. Oh and after reading it again after all this time, I thought it was a 6mo timeframe, but no, 13mo!

No doubt! I might not have a job, but at least I’d be famous!

Hey maybe there’s a way to use this situation to negotiate better pay at your current employer, if you like it there and want to stay that is.

If you find a way to broach the compensation conversation and they refuse to give you a raise then the next step I think would be to request to re-negotiate the terms of the non-compete. If they refuse to do both then you may have a court case.

Again, consult a lawyer before doing anything like this so you can weigh your options and understand the risks.

In my experience (take this for what its worth)…

The HM asking what you currently make: Politely reply that that you do not share that information with anyone, but that you are happy to have a discussion about your talents/skills/experience and the value it brings to this new company. If they persist with trying to pry a number out of you, keep dodging it - its a lazy tactic that too many HR people use to determine value instead of doing the work to really understand who you are and the contributions you will make.

What you earn is between you and your current employer - it is nobody else’s business. Period.

This sounds like a bad situation.

-Don’t get “Brain raped” - if any of your knowledge is in conflict you need to hold it closely. They may just want to see what you’re working on then never speak to you again.

-I have had a friend with a NC who wanted to go to a competitor have a similar issue where legal action was brought up, and the hiring company backed down from offering him employment. This left him with no place to go which was not a good situation.

Nice Silicon Valley reference :wink:

Haha, oh, don’t worry, there was nothing I was working on there that any competitor of theirs would give two squirts of piss about.

so how did it turn out?

New post coming in infamous rant thread.